


i found brimstone in my garden

by lanvaldear



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Gen, incentive fic, rp fic, trustfell-verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 23:56:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7595308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanvaldear/pseuds/lanvaldear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s because of Katniss that Prim lived.</p>
<p>And it’s because of Katniss, too, that Prim died.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i found brimstone in my garden

The incentive, at first, doesn’t bother Katniss. _So what,_ she thinks to herself as she walks through the halls. _Maybe I should stay here forever. It’d be better for everyone if I never existed._

… But something makes her pause, and Katniss has to steady herself against the nearest wall. Would it really be better—? She’s overthinking things, maybe, but… but if she never existed, what would have happened to Prim after Dad died? Mom was in no condition to do anything. Peeta didn’t feel for Prim the way he did for Katniss. Prim, especially at that age, would be too young to hunt. Too soft. Too unsure about everything to go gathering, because a mouthful of the wrong stuff and she’d be dead in a minute. Prim wouldn’t have met Gale in the woods, because she wouldn’t have gone to the woods in the first place. Gale would have continued providing for just his family, and maybe he’d be worse off, too, because he never had the skill she did with a bow and arrows. And Gale, with all his siblings, and his dad dead, too… 

Katniss takes in a deep, angry breath, and walks to the dojo. All the while, she’s still thinking. Because that’s the only thing she’s good at, clearly, is overthinking stuff. If she hadn’t existed, Prim wouldn’t have had anyone to volunteer for her. Peeta, likely, wouldn’t have done his part to try and protect her. Instead of Katniss, a scared little girl, shirt stuck out of her skirt like a ducktail, would have headed to the Capitol. A little girl who had no combat experience, who would die so quickly her image would have been the first in the sky. Instead of Katniss, Prim would have been easy pickings, especially for the Careers. And even if she made it to the end, Prim would not have lasted a second against Cato. Clove. Glimmer. Marvel. 

She’s crying by the time she reaches the dojo, by the time her fist connects with one of those mats. Because while Katniss would be better off dead, better off not burdening anyone with everything she is, she can’t allow Prim to go through that. Not ever. It hurts too much to think about.

Her fist connects with the thing, and then she’s sliding to the floor, holding her stomach as she sobs. Prim—no matter if Katniss had existed or not—wouldn’t have had a different fate.

After all, it’s because of Katniss that Prim lived.

And it’s because of Katniss, too, that Prim died.

**Author's Note:**

> So, obviously, this isn't Hunger Games-verse. Rather, it's Trustfell-verse, a roleplay styled after Dangan Ronpa. The incentive (to kill, naturally) referred to is--
> 
> "Some of you have asked me about this place, and what it's capable of doing; I haven't been able to give you too many answers, but I figure I can let you know at least one thing about it.
> 
> The longer you stay here, the more your influence back home dies.
> 
> It'll be pretty subtle at first - just people taking a moment to remember that you're not there anymore - but eventually? Your influence will be erased from the world. Everything you've done will be forgotten, and once it's forgotten? It'll be reversed. Your life will have meant nothing. Your sacrifices will have meant nothing. Do you understand what I'm telling you? Stay here too long, and you might as well have never existed back home."


End file.
